He is an excellent writer, commentator and translator of the Theravada tradition. He teaches a demystified and non-metaphysical version of Buddhism - what I think is the closest to the original teaching. His is a great modern voice in Buddhism and in healing psychology.
actually, Thanissaro has profound and well argued reverence for the more supernatural, cosmological, and metaphysical claims and implications to be found in the Suttas, and backs them up with meticulous knowledge of those scriptures, their coherence, their logic, and a rigorous practice that reinforces the conviction that what we think is possible is conditioned by where we're at on the path, conditioned by what cravings we're unable to examine and abandon. There are necessarily levels of letting go that we have no tools to comprehend, and indeed no interest to contemplate, and in those realms of experience function on different premises. Thanissaro always emphasizes that the point of the Buddha's progressive teaching is that our perception is ruled by our conduct. If we change our conduct radically, we WILL see life and death very differently, as well as all possibilities in between.
He is exactly the opposite of what you said regarding what he teach; he does not reject metaphysical concepts but emphasizes them. It seems from your text that you do not truly know him. Even Buddha did not reject the Indian concepts you see as supernatural; rather, he taught them and emphasized understanding and deepening the knowledge that they are reality, including ideas like rebirth ect.... What you are referring to is a secular approach to Buddhism that distorts what Buddha taught and interprets it in a way that suits its own views
This monk is such a blessing, for years I've been listening to the Ajahn Chah lineage so to hear this lineage of Ajahn Lee has really cemented the teachings of the Thai tradition which is such a blessing 🙏
im so grateful for coming across these Theravada teachings, i find them straight forward and sticking with "exactly" what the Buddha taught - suffering and the end of suffering, no woowoo waawaa, only what Buddha taught. Thank you for the refreshing teachings. Bless.
I came to the Dhamma largely because of Ajahn Thanissaro's translations of the Pali Nikayas, and his commentaries and Dhamma talks have clarified so many technical aspects in my own practice. Access to Insight is a great gift to any English speaking student of the Buddha's teachings. I hope one day to meet him. I'd really like to thank him personally for all he's done not just for me, but for students everywhere in the anglophone world. Until then, thanks BuddhaDhamma Foundation for making this content available!
This School coming from Ajan Chan, including Thanissaro, Amaro, etc. at Abayagiri, etc. and are the GOLD STANDARD of authentic Dhamma today. I recommend the recording of the Winter 2018 readings from Acharya Mun's works as well. No where else in the western world is the standard of practice alive today.
This is not a "school" come from ajahn chah, this is a "Theravadin tradition" called: The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand. Check what you write before publishing it.
The story about his mother keeping the ruined egg separator is really touching. Children have such a great opportunity to brighten their parents' world.
I've just heard my favorite teaching. "You're not suffering because of what comes into your mind. You suffer because of what comes out of your mind." Thanks
I read an account of a team of mountain climbers, one of the earliest group of westerners who traveled to nepal/tibet to climb a Himalayan peak. In their preparations they were told about a Tibetan Buddhist center nearby and they decided to go talk to the head monk there and get his blessing. After listening to the climbers' plans to scale this huge mountain peak the Tibetan lama simply said 'what a tremendous waste of effort.' The climbers left thinking that he simply didn't understand.
This is why ven. Thanissaro has no comments section, to avoid tribalism. Although I would like very much to be able to leave some question for more advanced meditators and so on. That kind of communication could be useful.
i see that Their voices are not similar at all; Ajahn Ṭhānissaro's voice is much deeper. Furthermore, Alan Watts is not a Dhamma teacher; he is merely a spiritualist who mixes various concepts and distorts their meaning as he wants.
I greatly appreciate the effort Rev Thanissaro put into translating the Lord Buddha's teaching, making it available to the wider public, and the amounts of work do fill me with awe. I wonder how he, beautifully, completed such a great task--what a contribution!! I enjoy listening to audio sutta of his translation, my favorite, delightful I should say. Guess, like others, I have to associate myself more with his Dhamma talks, something new to me, but also with great enjoyment. Sadhu!!
Lovely talk. TB’s talks are always refreshing and hard hitting. When it comes to the precept of not killing and thus not eating meat, I think we have a greater say in it than we realize. If you choose not to eat meat because it’s killing an animal, you have chosen not to pay for the killing of it. If enough people stopped purchasing meat, I don’t think animal farmers would still go ahead and kill their animals. The only reason you can go to the market to buy meat is because you’re paying for the animal to be killed. Stop purchasing (demanding) meat and the supply will stop.
If we were not consuming farm animals for food purposes, they would go extinct. They are now entirely dependent upon their perhaps unfortunate symbiosis with us for survival.
At Tricycle magazine: "Just understand your mind: how it works, how attachment and desire arise." The attachments and desires, in all plants and animals, arise from the DNA molecules in their body cells. All plants and animals have three genetically programmed goals/desires: 1- SELF PRESERVATION 2- PERPETUATION OF THE SPECIES 3- DOMINANCE. The DNA dance has a sisyiphean goal. The Buddha taught renunciation. He lived the life of a renunciate.
It depends on your intention, If your intention is not to harm other beings, such as insects and others, then you have not directly break the first precept And if your intention is the opposite of that, then you have creates conditions for more beings to die, then you have break also the principal of Not causing harm or suffering to other beings, "ahimsa" (non-harming), as the Buddha taught in : "To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one’s own mind-this is the teaching of the Buddhas.” (Dhp 183)
Yes there is a higher happiness one can attain but it's not easy. You can meditate for 50 years and not find it. We are told not to "want it" because then we are craving and clinging. If we do get a taste of it we are told not to get excited and like it too much or we will lose it. It can be a very frustrating confusing path full of paradox so many different perspectives about what is the correct way etc.
The path to liberation, as taught by the Buddha, is not merely a matter of time or effort, but of genuine transformation. One may dedicate countless years to practice, yet without purifying the heart-mind, true progress remains elusive. As the Buddha taught in the Dhammapada (Dhp 165): "By oneself is evil done; by oneself is one defiled. By oneself is evil left undone; by oneself is one made pure. Purity and impurity depend on oneself; no one can purify another." Many practitioners fall into the trap of grasping at the path itself, believing that through sheer will and speed they can attain enlightenment. However, this approach often leads to frustration and further entanglement. The Buddha cautioned against such attachment in the Alagaddupama Sutta (MN 22): "Monks, I will teach you the Dhamma compared to a raft, for the purpose of crossing over, not for the purpose of holding onto" It's crucial to understand the nuanced nature of desire in Buddhist practice. Not all desires lead to suffering; rather, it is our clinging and attachment that give rise to dukkha. The Buddha distinguished between tanha (craving) and chanda (wholesome aspiration). As we progress on the path, we cultivate a non-judgmental awareness, recognizing our tendencies to cling or avert without getting caught in them. We come to understand that in truth, we possess nothing, and thus have nothing to lose. This realization aligns with the Buddha's teaching in the Sutta Nipata (Snp 5.10): "Having nothing, clinging to no thing: That is the island, there is no other.” There’s no need to worry about the multitude of viewpoints, as people will never stop disagreeing. The path that the Buddha pointed: the Middle Way between extreme asceticism and indulgence, and lived with loving-kindness and compassion. As the Buddha described in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11): "Without veering towards either of these extremes, the Tathagata has awakened to the middle way, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, which leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna." Remember, the path unfolds gradually, requiring patience and persistent effort without attachment to results. As we continue our practice with diligence and openness, the seeming paradoxes resolve themselves through direct experience. May all beings find peace and liberation.
there is no self because u hv a mind n a body.... the body is the body of city whereas the mind is the mind of universe so how can there be self me myself mine n i.... our existence is we not i view....
Please BuddhaDhamma Foundation change the picture pause of the Ven. Monk in the youtube listing of this video with a better picture pause; as the present one is depressing and uninvting and even ugly looking to the new visitor !
I think motivation/ intention plays an important role in buddhism, but what Thanissaro Bhikkhu is saying is that breaking the precepts is always unskillfull, i.e. it will never lead to your long-term happiness, no matter what your motivation behind breaking them is.
It is incorrect to say that motivation doesn't matter. But I don't think he means exactly this: for example, later he talks about giving just out of the desire to win the lottery; this is not a good way to give, it's giving out of selfishness. There, the motivation does matter quite a lot. About breaking the precepts, I would have said that breaking the precepts is always wrong, not only just "because because'" but actually because the motivation in breaking the precepts IS always selfish and unwise, because the precepts forbid exactly those actions that lead to the most long term harm and suffering for oneself and for others. So if you think you are "doing good" in breaking them, then you are cheating yourself. e.g. lying for the sake of making more money and giving it to your mother is NOT a 'noble motivation." It is a selfish one. Lying, stealing, cheating, killing for the sake of one's health, one's wealth or one's relatives - all the motivation is still selfish, because you are just protecting the things to which you are attached, that are "part of me, mine, myself."
He is the true and scholarly talented teacher we have in this modern world.
He is an excellent writer, commentator and translator of the Theravada tradition. He teaches a demystified and non-metaphysical version of Buddhism - what I think is the closest to the original teaching. His is a great modern voice in Buddhism and in healing psychology.
actually, Thanissaro has profound and well argued reverence for the more supernatural, cosmological, and metaphysical claims and implications to be found in the Suttas, and backs them up with meticulous knowledge of those scriptures, their coherence, their logic, and a rigorous practice that reinforces the conviction that what we think is possible is conditioned by where we're at on the path, conditioned by what cravings we're unable to examine and abandon. There are necessarily levels of letting go that we have no tools to comprehend, and indeed no interest to contemplate, and in those realms of experience function on different premises. Thanissaro always emphasizes that the point of the Buddha's progressive teaching is that our perception is ruled by our conduct. If we change our conduct radically, we WILL see life and death very differently, as well as all possibilities in between.
He is exactly the opposite of what you said regarding what he teach; he does not reject metaphysical concepts but emphasizes them. It seems from your text that you do not truly know him. Even Buddha did not reject the Indian concepts you see as supernatural; rather, he taught them and emphasized understanding and deepening the knowledge that they are reality, including ideas like rebirth ect.... What you are referring to is a secular approach to Buddhism that distorts what Buddha taught and interprets it in a way that suits its own views
This monk is such a blessing, for years I've been listening to the Ajahn Chah lineage so to hear this lineage of Ajahn Lee has really cemented the teachings of the Thai tradition which is such a blessing 🙏
im so grateful for coming across these Theravada teachings, i find them straight forward and sticking with "exactly" what the Buddha taught - suffering and the end of suffering, no woowoo waawaa, only what Buddha taught. Thank you for the refreshing teachings. Bless.
❤❤
I came to the Dhamma largely because of Ajahn Thanissaro's translations of the Pali Nikayas, and his commentaries and Dhamma talks have clarified so many technical aspects in my own practice. Access to Insight is a great gift to any English speaking student of the Buddha's teachings. I hope one day to meet him. I'd really like to thank him personally for all he's done not just for me, but for students everywhere in the anglophone world. Until then, thanks BuddhaDhamma Foundation for making this content available!
This School coming from Ajan Chan, including Thanissaro, Amaro, etc. at Abayagiri, etc. and are the GOLD STANDARD of authentic Dhamma today. I recommend the recording of the Winter 2018 readings from Acharya Mun's works as well. No where else in the western world is the standard of practice alive today.
Agreed.. very grateful for the Thai people and their dedication. Do you have a link to the readings of Ajahn Mun?
May I ask for a link to the video you have recommended from 2018. I have been searching but unsuccessfully. Is it also by Ajahn Thanissaro?
do you have a link to these winter recordings? thank you
This is not a "school" come from ajahn chah, this is a "Theravadin tradition" called: The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand.
Check what you write before publishing it.
This monk has an amazing voice.
true, his teachings are supreme, but his voice is also very pleasant to listen to, which is part of his merits
@@thewebmaster1 "he" doesn't have any teachings. "He" is merely telling you to do what someone else, the Buddha, said to do.
Beeble Brox “Thus have I heard...”
@@vperna6035 🙏😊
Michael Cesario Agree. A very pleasant baritone!
The story about his mother keeping the ruined egg separator is really touching. Children have such a great opportunity to brighten their parents' world.
Parents have way more responsibility to do that for their kids since they pulled the being into existence. There ain't no virgin Mary :P
I've just heard my favorite teaching.
"You're not suffering because of what comes into your mind. You suffer because of what comes out of your mind."
Thanks
That's one of the pillars of the Buddha's way.
I found that very helpful also.
One of the best meditation teachers in the world
He is really a great teacher
Thanks for sharing it
I read an account of a team of mountain climbers, one of the earliest group of westerners who traveled to nepal/tibet to climb a Himalayan peak. In their preparations they were told about a Tibetan Buddhist center nearby and they decided to go talk to the head monk there and get his blessing. After listening to the climbers' plans to scale this huge mountain peak the Tibetan lama simply said 'what a tremendous waste of effort.' The climbers left thinking that he simply didn't understand.
I’m always inspired by Ajahn Geoff teachings of the Dhamma. Easily comprehensible and enjoyable.
Metta
This is so clear. Greatly appreciate. Theruwan saranai.
Thank you for the kind upload. With metta
佛陀的智慧是超越时间、人种、文化、语言的，他的智慧是放诸四海皆准的。
Ajahn Thanissaro has a soothing voice that makes people fall as sleep.
Especially those who are not mindful or alert or energetic enough. Those who are will just calm down without the sleepiness.
Sadhu sadhu sadhu!!! What a fantastic way to explain Dhamma
my favorite monk
Let's keep our clinging skillful :)
your ego still plays favourites!
LOL
Mine too
This is why ven. Thanissaro has no comments section, to avoid tribalism.
Although I would like very much to be able to leave some question for more advanced meditators and so on. That kind of communication could be useful.
Anyone notice the small lizard appear from behind the frame at 9:40
the fact is when u hv a body ur indeed already in suffering but only in different condition n degree.... one cannot deny it....
His voice reminds me of Alan Watts, deep and clear.
i see that Their voices are not similar at all; Ajahn Ṭhānissaro's voice is much deeper. Furthermore, Alan Watts is not a Dhamma teacher; he is merely a spiritualist who mixes various concepts and distorts their meaning as he wants.
Wow - this is brilliant!
Thank you. You explain so clearly. It’s incredible. Sadhu!
Awesome talk, thank you! The highest teachings
🙏🙏🙏🙏
Clear and easy to follow. Saddhu! Saddhu! Saddhu!
More wisdom with no dogma..thankyou
i used to go to Wat Palelai. 🙂💗
Thank you.
Thank you for sharing your inspiring wisdom.
Please give us more vid with Ajahn Thanissaro Bhikkhu
I think I was there at the talk.
I love reading comment sections on Dhamma videos because everyone here in an Arahant LOL
I learned things. Thank you!
Ajahn Thanissaro can make the Dhamma very clear
I greatly appreciate the effort Rev Thanissaro put into translating the Lord Buddha's teaching, making it available to the wider public, and the amounts of work do fill me with awe. I wonder how he, beautifully, completed such a great task--what a contribution!! I enjoy listening to audio sutta of his translation, my favorite, delightful I should say. Guess, like others, I have to associate myself more with his Dhamma talks, something new to me, but also with great enjoyment. Sadhu!!
Lovely talk. TB’s talks are always refreshing and hard hitting.
When it comes to the precept of not killing and thus not eating meat, I think we have a greater say in it than we realize. If you choose not to eat meat because it’s killing an animal, you have chosen not to pay for the killing of it. If enough people stopped purchasing meat, I don’t think animal farmers would still go ahead and kill their animals. The only reason you can go to the market to buy meat is because you’re paying for the animal to be killed. Stop purchasing (demanding) meat and the supply will stop.
If we were not consuming farm animals for food purposes, they would go extinct. They are now entirely dependent upon their perhaps unfortunate symbiosis with us for survival.
The same goes for all domesticated animals, and most domesticated animals have longer and happier lives than an animal in the wild.
@@Countcordeaux Personally I would rather have farmers cease breeding animals into a cruel and unjust system meant only to exploit them.
@@carstenaltena Good luck
@@Countcordeaux Thank you, you too.
Clear as a bell 🔔 sadhu sadhu sadhu
Legendary
Thanks
At Tricycle magazine:
"Just understand your mind: how it works, how attachment and desire arise."
The attachments and desires, in all plants and animals, arise from the DNA molecules in their body cells. All plants and animals have three genetically programmed goals/desires:
1- SELF PRESERVATION
2- PERPETUATION OF THE SPECIES
3- DOMINANCE.
The DNA dance has a sisyiphean goal. The Buddha taught renunciation. He lived the life of a renunciate.
So deep.
Sadhu sadhu sadhu!
So true
what about "Carnivorous Plants"? If I plant it around my compound, does it break the first precept?
It depends on your intention, If your intention is not to harm other beings, such as insects and others, then you have not directly break the first precept And if your intention is the opposite of that, then you have creates conditions for more beings to die, then you have break also the principal of Not causing harm or suffering to other beings, "ahimsa" (non-harming), as the Buddha taught in :
"To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one’s own mind-this is the teaching of the Buddhas.” (Dhp 183)
9:39 Check out in the back a huge lizzard is eating a fly on the wall!
It’s a zen poem 😊
Good talk.
sadhu,sadhu,sadhu................................lành thay,lành thay.
🙏
Well said, well said.
Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu.
Are non tactile sensations suitable for "breathing through"?
Yes there is a higher happiness one can attain but it's not easy. You can meditate for 50 years and not find it. We are told not to "want it" because then we are craving and clinging. If we do get a taste of it we are told not to get excited and like it too much or we will lose it. It can be a very frustrating confusing path full of paradox so many different perspectives about what is the correct way etc.
The path to liberation, as taught by the Buddha, is not merely a matter of time or effort, but of genuine transformation. One may dedicate countless years to practice, yet without purifying the heart-mind, true progress remains elusive. As the Buddha taught in the Dhammapada (Dhp 165):
"By oneself is evil done; by oneself is one defiled. By oneself is evil left undone; by oneself is one made pure. Purity and impurity depend on oneself; no one can purify another."
Many practitioners fall into the trap of grasping at the path itself, believing that through sheer will and speed they can attain enlightenment. However, this approach often leads to frustration and further entanglement. The Buddha cautioned against such attachment in the Alagaddupama Sutta (MN 22):
"Monks, I will teach you the Dhamma compared to a raft, for the purpose of crossing over, not for the purpose of holding onto"
It's crucial to understand the nuanced nature of desire in Buddhist practice. Not all desires lead to suffering; rather, it is our clinging and attachment that give rise to dukkha. The Buddha distinguished between tanha (craving) and chanda (wholesome aspiration).
As we progress on the path, we cultivate a non-judgmental awareness, recognizing our tendencies to cling or avert without getting caught in them. We come to understand that in truth, we possess nothing, and thus have nothing to lose. This realization aligns with the Buddha's teaching in the Sutta Nipata (Snp 5.10):
"Having nothing, clinging to no thing: That is the island, there is no other.”
There’s no need to worry about the multitude of viewpoints, as people will never stop disagreeing. The path that the Buddha pointed: the Middle Way between extreme asceticism and indulgence, and lived with loving-kindness and compassion. As the Buddha described in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11):
"Without veering towards either of these extremes, the Tathagata has awakened to the middle way, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, which leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna."
Remember, the path unfolds gradually, requiring patience and persistent effort without attachment to results. As we continue our practice with diligence and openness, the seeming paradoxes resolve themselves through direct experience.
May all beings find peace and liberation.
there is no self because u hv a mind n a body.... the body is the body of city whereas the mind is the mind of universe so how can there be self me myself mine n i.... our existence is we not i view....
Where is tomorrow night's talk on meditation?
9:39 - lizard
Please
BuddhaDhamma Foundation change the picture pause of the Ven. Monk in the youtube listing of this video with a better picture pause; as the present one is depressing and uninvting and even ugly looking to the new visitor !
Minute 16... Motivation doesn't matter, really? That's a surprise. I thought (and heard many times) motivation is what matters.
I think motivation/ intention plays an important role in buddhism, but what Thanissaro Bhikkhu is saying is that breaking the precepts is always unskillfull, i.e. it will never lead to your long-term happiness, no matter what your motivation behind breaking them is.
motivation - motive in action?
It is incorrect to say that motivation doesn't matter. But I don't think he means exactly this: for example, later he talks about giving just out of the desire to win the lottery; this is not a good way to give, it's giving out of selfishness. There, the motivation does matter quite a lot. About breaking the precepts, I would have said that breaking the precepts is always wrong, not only just "because because'" but actually because the motivation in breaking the precepts IS always selfish and unwise, because the precepts forbid exactly those actions that lead to the most long term harm and suffering for oneself and for others. So if you think you are "doing good" in breaking them, then you are cheating yourself.
e.g. lying for the sake of making more money and giving it to your mother is NOT a 'noble motivation." It is a selfish one. Lying, stealing, cheating, killing for the sake of one's health, one's wealth or one's relatives - all the motivation is still selfish, because you are just protecting the things to which you are attached, that are "part of me, mine, myself."
sadhu sadhu sadhu
코끼리 발자국 안에서 "In the elephant footprint" 사성제 법문 감사합니다. 사두 사두 사두
Shadu Shadu Shadu
sadhu
Lizard cameo @ 9:40